Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz said Connecticut residents who have lost health insurance because of the COVID-19 pandemic should sign-up for Obamacare. She said they have two weeks to sign-up before the open enrollment period for 2021 coverage ends on December 15.
Bysiewicz said the state’s health insurance marketplace Access Health CT has reduced premiums and comprehensive coverage for people who’ve lost their job and health insurance during the pandemic.
“There is small business coverage, there’s dental insurance, and there is Medicaid and children’s health coverage available, and Medicare,” Bysiewicz said.
James Michel heads Access Health CT. He said jobless people may also qualify for the state’s HUSKY health insurance program.
“Which is completely free,” Michel said.
The head of the Connecticut Office of Healthcare Strategy, Victoria Veltri, said the premiums for Access Health CT are affordable, and the coverage is comprehensive.
“And I think it's important for people to really understand you can get financial help. Seventy five percent historically of the people who have been covered by Access Health get federal help in the form of offsets to their deductibles and copays or lower premiums,” Veltri said.
More than 37,000 unemployed Connecticut residents signed up for health coverage through Access Health CT during the height of the pandemic in the spring. And about 748,000 state residents have received unemployment benefits since March.
Most of the state’s uninsured are between the ages of 25 and 45.
